.The Junior National Mogul Championships "jNats" is set to return to Mt Buller this Saturday August 5.

The jNats event caters for all levels of the sport from first time mogul competitors to aspiring Australian development team skiers.

Athletes will compete for the strongest prize pool in an Australian junior event, with $1600 prizemoney up for grabs from major sponsor Bounce Inc.

The event serves as a critical competition step for the nation's mogul skiing athletes, giving them the opportunity to press for national development team selection and providing an ideal lead-up to the Victorian Interschools, ABOM Mogul Challenge and Australian Interschools events at Mt Buller.

Past winners of the event include World Cup medallists Britt Cox, Matt Graham and Brodie Summers.

The Shakey Knees course will be around 140m long, with one jump, similar to the Victorian Interschools Div 1-3 course and the AUS Interschools course for all divisions later in September.

Two age categories are on offer:

Junior (born January 1 1998 to December 31 2003)

Youth (born January 1 2004 or later)

Additional prizes for kids born 2007 and later.

Bolle will also provide prizes to all podium winners.

For more information and to register for the event please visitwww.jnats.com

We encourage the following TBR Groups to compete in the event:TBR Mogul - All groups recommended.TBR Grom/Friday - Josh/Tim/Luka groups recommended. Lisa's group message her for confirmation.TBR All-Mountain/Freeski - Optional, great preparation if you will be competing in Interschool Moguls.

Following on from a highly successful 20165-2017 camp in Park City, UT, USA, which included record snowfalls, amazing training facilities and a great bunch of athletes and staff, we are excited to announce:

The story of a skier’s first time camping in the backcountry.Story by Team Buller Riders (TBR) athlete Joe Nossal.

I’ve skied at Mt Buller for nine years, and in Australia for 13, but I’ve never experienced anything quite like the wild yet tranquil atmosphere of the Mt Buller Backcountry.

A group of five TBR athletes, three coaches and backcountry guru, Teddy Laycock, were heading into Buller’s backcountry to experience a night in the wilderness. So, naturally, when my coach James Phillips had asked me to come along, I couldn’t refuse.

The day of departure couldn’t have been better. Blue skies, soft snow, and the temperature just on zero. We dropped the gear near our camp spot in the morning, praying the skies would stay clear. After lunch, we grabbed our skis and headed up BB1 to ski the untracked Standard run.

With packs on our backs, we got first tracks down Standard, and skied down the Bull Run cat track towards Federation lift. We reached the bottom of Federation, put our skins on, took a quick photo and we were off.

We skinned for around an hour, taking in the incredibly beautiful scenery of the bushfire burnt snow gums in the afternoon light. I feel truly blessed to have been brought up around such a truly beautiful place, and I was so glad I could see it from a new perspective. We watched the sun go down over wombat chair, took photos, and bathed in the majestic Buller landscape. As night fell, the skies stayed clear, meaning it would get cold.

So, all rugged up, Teddy cooked us dinner as the stars came out. That night, the clear sky brought with it the milky way, and it was perfect for photos, taking long exposures for spectacular results.

Morning came, and with it the wind. We had planned to hike to the top of Little Buller for sunrise and breaky, but the wind would have ruined it, so we stayed in our protected camp and watched the sun come up behind the south face of themountain. We packed our packs and skied down to wombat lift, where we would finish our epic experience among the wilderness.

I, along with everyone else who went, left the with one thing to take back: an urge to go again.

I would like to thank the 3 TBR coaches (Alex and Henry Eisner and James Phillips), TBR Program Manager Andrew Pattison, Backcountry expert and Photographer Teddy Laycock, and the Mt Buller Outdoor Operations Team for making this happen.